Russian Court Gives Small Victory
To Investors in Battle With Yukos

By

Alan S. Cullison Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated May 31, 1999 12:01 a.m. ET

MOSCOW -- Minority investors won a small victory in their battle with Russian oil baron Mikhail Khodarkovsky, when a Russian court temporarily barred a controversial share issue that would sharply dilute the investors' holdings at a major oil company, AO Samaraneftegaz.

But investors still face a tangle of problems at other oil companies controlled by Mr. Khodarkovsky and his Rosprom industrial group. In March, Mr. Khodarkovsky barred minority investors from shareholder meetings at three of the companies -- AO Tomskneft,...